Protesters make noise over "Thunder"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Protesters, led by
Special Olympics chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver, marched
outside the world premiere of the Hollywood satire "Tropic
Thunder" on Monday night.

Chanting and waving placards that read "Ban the movie, ban
the word" and "Call me by my name, not my label," several dozen
people tried to get the message across that the word "retard"
and making fun of the mentally challenged is not comedy
material.

In "Thunder," Ben Stiller's character is an actor who
previously attempted to go for Oscar gold by playing a
character called "Simple Jack." "Thunder" features the
movie-within-a-movie's trailer, and Stiller is forced to
re-enact scenes from the movie when he is captured by Asian
drug lords.

DreamWorks and Paramount were well-prepared for the protest
at the Westwood movie theater: The normally open red carpet was
shielded by walls of 10-foot-high shrubs, thus preventing the
protesters from even being in the background of television
shots.